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BRUSH Work 



Kindergarten and Primary Schools 




ELLA GOODWIN LUNT 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

1896 



Brush Work 



Kindergarten and Primary Schools 



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ELLA GOODWIN LUNT 



' MAY ©0 inofi 



IIOSTON. U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH &: CO.. PUBLISHERS 

1896 



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Copyright, 1896, 
jY Ella Goodwin Lunt. 



C. ]. PETERS & SON, TYPOGRAPHERS. 
ROCKWELL & CHURCHILL, PRINTERS. 



'A 



INTRODUCTION. 



X^ These elementary exercises in Brush Work have been prepared in the 

^ endeavor to supply an increasing demand for some guide in teaching the 

use of the brush to the little children. 

This demand has arisen in consequence of a growing belief among edu- 
cators that the brush, for many excellent reasons, should be placed early in 
the hands of the child. Though a comparatively new departure from the 
> old method of drawing, yet a keynote of this movement was sounded some 

years ago by one who is an authorit)' on educational questions, — Herbert 
Spencer, — who says in his work on Education: — 

" Had teachers been guided by Nature's habits, not only in making 
drawing a part of education, but in choosing modes of teaching it, they 
would have done still better than they have done. 

"What is it that the child first tries to represent ? Things that are large, 
things that are attractive in color, things round wiiich its pleasurable asso- 
ciations most cluster, — human beings, from whom it has received so many 
emotions ; cows and dogs, which interest it by the many phenomena they 
present ; houses that are hourly visible, and strike by their size and contrast 
of parts. And which of the processes of representation gives it most de- 
].i(;hi ? Coloring. Paper and pencil are good in default of something better; 
but a box of paints and a brush — these are the treasures. The drawing 
of outlines immediately becomes secondary to coloring ; and if leave can be 
got to color a book of prints, how great is the favor ! Now, ridiculous as 
such a position will seem to drawing-masters, who postpone coloring, and 
who teach form by a dreary discipline of copying lines, we believe that the 
course of culture thus indicated is the right one. . . . 



2 BRUSH WORK. 

" The question is not whether the child is producing good drawings. 
The question is, whether it is developing its faculties. It has first to gain 
some command over its fingers, some crude notion of lightness ; and this 
practice is better than any other for these ends, since it is the spontaneous 
and interesting one. During childhood no formal drawing-lessons are possi- 
ble. Shall we therefore repress or neglect to aid these efforts at self-culture, 
or shall we encourage and guide them as normal exercises of the perceptions 
and the powers of manipulation ? 

" It may happen that when the age for lessons in drawing is reached, 
there will exist a faculty that would else have been absent. Time will have 
been gained, and trouble both to teacher and pupil saved." ^ 

The Ancients were far more familiar with the brush than we have been. 
For instance, the drawings of the Egyptians, the work on (Ireek vases and 
Persian tiles, were all done with the brush. 

We may learn much from the modern Japanese artists, who stand un- 
rivalled for their wonderful facility of execution, beauty of coloring, and deli- 
cacy of drawing. Above all, they represent the true artistic feeling and 
impression. \\'e cannot wonder that they are proficient in the use of the 
brush ; since from earliest childhood they are taught to write their letters 
with it, or rather to form the characters of their language. 

The brush being the more fiexible and delicate instrument, a higher 
degree of muscular sensitiveness and muscular control can be gained by 
its use. 

More can be done with the brush than with the pencil. With the latter, 
only dots and lines can be made ; while with the former, dots, lines, and 
forms. This ability to represent form in mass instead of in outline is a 
great advantage. 

By placing the brush early in the hand of the little child, the aim is 
not to make artists, but to give a natural and harmonious training. He 
is led to observe the beautiful forms of Nature, which "are but the revela- 

1 Herbert Spencer on Education, p. 140. 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

tions of God's thoughts to man." The smallest thing in Nature is a joy 
to the little child, who delights to investigate even the tiny daisy by the road- 
side. What can be more rational than that he should desire to express its 
form on paper? We can help to satisfy this desire by giving him a brush and 
color ; and in his efforts to reproduce what he has seen and felt, his mind has 
been enriched and eye and hand trained. Though the work be crude in 
the extreme, yet, if it shows perfect freedom of thought and expression, it 
has accomplished the desired end. Let accuracy be sacrificed now for 
freedom. Only upon this principle can the work be kept from becoming 
mechanical and artificial. Later, as progress is made, greater accuracy of 
expression should be sought. In the first lessons we begin with forms 
because they are made with the least effort, and because the child should be 
taught from the beginning to see an object as a whole, not in parts or detail. 

The first drawings should be large and free, and later on the child will 
naturally acquire the habit of making finer and more regular lines and forms. 

Though the work be deficient in mechanical accuracy and the p.iper 
soiled and dauby, yet each child will disclose by this freedom of action the 
characteristics of his nature. By a conscientious study of these papers the 
teacher may be able to correct faults, and encourage right efforts. 

These lessons have been planned to correspond to the needs and capa- 
bilities of the younger children, and also for older children who have lacked 
such earlier training. Following these simple exercises, which are given 
primarily for the training of eye and hand, should be the lessons in two and 
three tones and in the harmony and contrast of color, using the three primary 
colors, — blue, yellow, and red, — with which the child is familiar from other 
work in the kindergarten. 

SUOGESTIONS TO ThaCHERS. 

Each child should be supplied with suitable paper, dray or some other 
harmonious tint is preferable to white. 



4 BKCSir WORK. 

For color, Prussian Blue, Blacl... or Sepia would better be used in the 
first few lessons. After a certain degree of control of eye and hand has been 
gained, a study of the combinations of the primary colors should follow. 

The best Green is made by combining Yellow and Prussian Blue. 

Ink (Carter's Koal Black the best) is a good, cheap, and convenient 
substitute for the moist water colors. 

A large quantity of color can be prepared, and kept in a bottle for some 
time. At each lesson a small amount of the proper shade should be given 
to each child in a tiny dish, such as the butter-plates used in other school 
work. For brushes use a medium size sable No. 4 or 5, or, better still, the 
round Japanese brush. They should always be cleaned after using, and kept 
in some place away from the dust. 

If possible, have the children work with the paper fastened to an in- 
clined surface. 

The lesson should last at least for half an hour ; the first part of the period 
being devoted to the practise of the lesson on what may be called " practice 
paper," the last part to work on another sheet, which should be preserved. 

Direct results must not be looked for. The teacher should keep m 
mind that the training of eye and hand and developing the muscular sense 
are of far more importance than very exact work. 

The best method of presenting a lesson to the class is for the teacher, 
using a large brush and deep color, to reproduce before the children the 
exercises on paper fastened to the blackboard. 

Card 1. The first exercises consist of forms made in the child's most 
natural way by simply pressing the brush flatly on the pa]3er. 

These forms should be arranged at regular distances apart m the differ- 
ent positions, — vertically, horizontally, and obliquely. 

In applying this exercise to Nature, let the teacher show leaves, and 
flowers having petals, which in general resemble these forms. 

Card 2. The exercises on card 2 are examples of two kinds of strokes. 
In making the first, begin with the brush flattened as in the first exercise; 



INTKODUCTION. 5 

gradually draw it downwards, raising it lightly, and finish the stroke with the 
point. In making the second, begin with the point of the brush, and hnish 
with it spread. 

Leaves and petals more pointed than those represented by the preceding 
exercise may be given the children, to be arranged in various combinations, 
and then to be represented on paper with brush and color. 

Card 3. 'l"he exercises on this card are similar to the preceding ones, with 
this addition, — the stroke moves in a curve, is more prolonged, and gradually 
ends in a broad line. 

In the exercises thus far the teacher has led the pupils to discover that 
by bearing on with the brush it spreads, and broad lines are made, and by 
lightly raising it the brush will come to a point, and finer lines are made. 

Cards 4, 5, and 6. In arranging combinations of broad, free lines, the 
inventive genius of the children is brought into play, use being made of 
the colored sticks to represent patterns. 

These simple designs, though imperfect, if original are of far more value 
than much better imitative work. Let us endeavor to develop this individual 
creative faculty of the child as far as possible. 

Card 7. This card contains a new exercise which may be called the 
tapering stroke, made by beginning and ending with the elastic point of 
the brush. 

These forms may be placed in a variety of positions to form borders. 

Cards 8 and 9. These cards show examples of work done with the tip 
of the brush. 

The making of fine, straight lines is not the object in view, but by 
this practice to give the child greater training to eye and hand. 

Cards 10, 11, and 12. The new exercise here presented is the curved 
strokes. In these studies help the child to feel the beauty in curved lines, and 
freely to express it. 

Cards 13-18. The remaining cards contain examples from Nature which 
embody the principles in the foregoing exercises. The chief characteristic of 



6 ■ RRUS// irOA'A'. 

these studies is the broad, fiat wash done in strong color, no effort being made 
to bring out detail. 

They should be used simply as a guide to the selection of suitable objects 
from the inexhaustible supply in Nature's storehouse. 

In the fall we have the seeds, the pods, the graceful grasses, the grains, 
the nuts, and the autumn leaves. 

Awakening springtime brings the buds and twigs, the sprouting seeds, 
the green leaves and wayside flowers. 

This work is presented to the public with the feeling that it is but one of 
many ways to arrange a series of progressive exercises for the brush, which 
might be rightly called the "alphabet of drawing." And it is hoped that 
those who shall venture into this new held, and espouse the cause of Brush 
Work, will not rest content until it has been developed to the highest possible 
degree. 



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